NK Shows No Signs of Nuke Reprocessing
2003-03-18
North Korea has shown no signs of reactivating a nuclear reprocessing facility capable of producing nuclear weapons, a senior Foreign Affairs-Trade Ministry official in Seoul said on Monday (March 17).
Nor has the North shown any moves to test-fire ballistic missiles that will escalate tensions on the Korean peninsula and in Northeast Asia, the official said, asking not be identified.
"The United States, on its part, has not conveyed any information regarding possible provocative acts to us," the official said.
There has been anxiety that the reclusive North might attempt to reprocess spent fuel rods at the nuclear processing facility to produce weapons-grade plutonium in a bid to press the United States into direct dialogue.
The North has been escalating the nuclear standoff with the U.S. by taking a series of provocative movements including test-firing of two anti-ship missiles and briefly interrupting an American military reconnaissance plane over high sea.
While Pyongyang has been insisting on bilateral talks with the U.S., the U.S. has been calling for multilateral dialogue.
Another official from the ministry renewed the government's stance that the North needs to accept the idea of multinational negotiation first as an initial step to entering into direct dialogue with the U.S.
"Within multinational dialogue channels, the North will be able to secure what it wants, like economic assistance and a guarantee of its survival," the official said.
He said Seoul has been working on specific devices to persuade both North Korea and the U.S. to come to the dialogue table in consideration of the stances of the two nations and other relevant parties.
North Korea on Monday continued to censure the U.S., raising the issue of annual South Korea-U.S. military exercises now underway, calling them steps to prepare for a war against the North.
Source : www.korea.net
